Bill to review sanctions against Azerbaijan  introduced in US  Congress

ArmInfo.US House of Representatives Congressmen Dina Titus and Gus Bilirakis introduced the Azerbaijan Sanctions Review Act 2025 bipartisan legislation  directing the Trump-Vance administration to review the applicability  of   Global Magnitsky Act sanctions against Azerbaijani officials  responsible for war crimes, human rights abuses, and the ongoing  illegal detention of Armenian prisoners of war and civilian hostages,  as reported by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

The diaspora organization reported that the ANCA welcomed the bill's  introduction and is mobilizing nationwide  to secure broad bipartisan  support for its passage. The ANCA also emphasized that the bill's  findings cite Azerbaijan's crimes, including the 2020 war, the 2023  genocide, and the ongoing policy of unlawful detention, torture, and  sham trials of Armenian captives. "  "Azerbaijan's continued  detainment, torture, extrajudicial execution, and other serious human  rights violations against prisoners of war and captured civilians  calls into serious question their commitment to human rights and  ability to negotiate an equitable, lasting peace settlement," the  bill's justification states. 

" After its illegal, year-long blockade of the Lachin Corridor,  Azerbaijan weaponized food and starved many of Artsakh's 120,000  Armenians," stated Rep. Titus. "The Aliyev government rejected calls  from the international community to withdraw and ease tensions, and  launched an assault on the Armenian community in Artsakh. People with  long-standing claims to the land were systematically pushed out by an  aggressor; children were denied food and water and could not go to  school; and Christian landmarks were desecrated. It's time to impose  costs on President Aliyev and his supporters instead of rewarding  them with military support and investment deals," Congresswoman Titus  said in introducing the bill.

Rep. Bilirakis concurred, noting "While the historic peace  declaration announced last month between Azerbaijan and Armenia may  signal progress, a political and humanitarian crisis continues-driven  by Azerbaijan's ongoing aggression in the region." Rep. Bilirakis  went on to note, "I'm proud to reintroduce legislation that would  require the President to determine whether Magnitsky sanctions should  be applied to senior Azerbaijani officials responsible for the ethnic  cleansing of Armenians from Artsakh and for enforcing repressive  policies against political opposition within Azerbaijan. American tax  dollars should not be used to support members of a brutal  regime-especially when those resources could be better spent  addressing urgent priorities here at home."

The legislation requires the President to determine, within 180 days,  whether 50+ named Azerbaijani officials - including senior military  commanders, security chiefs, prosecutors, and judges - meet the  criteria for sanctions under Global Magnitsky or Section 7031(c) of  the Department of State Appropriations Act.

With peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan failing to deliver  justice or secure the release of unlawfully detained Armenian  prisoners, this legislation represents a critical step to ensure that  Aliyev and his accomplices face real consequences under U.S. law.